The site of a former primary school is being transformed into a new North Lanarkshire Council housing development of 30 modern affordable homes.

A sod cutting event took place to mark the beginning of construction of the homes at St. Aloysius Primary School on Main Street and Woodville Court in Chapelhall.

The £4.3 million development is being delivered by Cruden Building and Renewals Ltd and comprises a mix of flats, bungalows and houses.

This latest phase of the council’s NL Homes programme adds to its growing stock of new council houses and marks another step to meeting ambitious plans to build more than 2,000 new homes – one of the biggest council house building programmes in Scotland in a generation.

Attending the sod cutting were housing convener, Councillor Barry McCulloch; local members Councillors Agnes Coyle, Tom Curley and Michael Coyle, representatives from the council’s housing service and developers Cruden.

Councillor McCulloch said: “NL Homes supports our vision to provide affordable, good quality homes within safe and sustainable communities for the people of North Lanarkshire.

“I am very proud that we have been able to commit investment in new and improved housing while managing to keep rents well below the Scottish local authority average.

“I look forward to seeing more sites taking shape and becoming part of local communities. I’m confident we’ll continue to deliver on our pledge to build more modern affordable homes for North Lanarkshire’s residents.”

All of the new homes are built with energy efficiency in mind, achieving at least a ‘good’ eco rating to help minimise running costs for tenants. In addition, they meet Housing for Varying Needs specification which means homes are more accessible to adapt to tenants’ mobility needs.

The homes are also ‘Secured by Design’ accredited, which involves Police Scotland architectural liaison officers having input into the layout and designs to ensure the council builds safe and secure environments.

Allan Callaghan, managing director of Cruden Buildings and Renewals Limited, added: “We are delighted to work with North Lanarkshire Council to build high quality spacious and modern houses at Chapelhall which will meet Silver Standard energy efficiency levels – providing residents with homes that have much cheaper energy bills and fewer carbon emissions.

“Importantly, as with all of our developments, we will be working with local suppliers to directly benefit the local community, including providing apprenticeships and training opportunities.”

A contribution is received from the Scottish Government towards the development costs at each site.